THE tax man wants Northwich Victoria to pay back a larger fraction of their six-figures debt.

HM Revenue and Customs – owed around £450,000 by the Blue Square North club – asked for more time to negotiate with Jim Rushe at a creditors’ meeting yesterday, Monday.

He has since made an improved offer.

“I’ve gone back to them with a revised figure,” he said this morning.

“It’s up to them now.”

He could expect a reply as soon as today, Tuesday.

Rushe’s original proposal for a Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with creditors, to repay part of the club’s debt, offered a dividend of 25p in the pound over five years.

Three quarters in value of those owed cash must support the plan for Vics to survive in their present form.

The company – Northwich Victoria Football Club (2004) Ltd – has been in administration since the beginning of May.

The Guardian has asked for an update from finance experts Refresh Recovery Ltd – currently the legal owners of the club – but so far nobody from the Skelmersdale-based firm has replied.

Every creditor will be entitled to vote on Rushe’s higher dividend offer, although the Guardian understands that none were against his original proposal.

That means a deal with the tax man is pivotal.

Rushe claims to have ploughed £325,000 of his own money into the club since taking control in December 2007.

Former backer Nick Bone has done the same.

Both are willing to write off their contributions in order to preserve Vics’ long-term future.

If the improved terms of his CVA are accepted, Rushe will buy the club back using a new company.

That in turn will free him to complete a £1.3m deal, agreed earlier this year, to become the next owner of the club’s Victoria Stadium home.

For the full story on Vics' financial struggles this summer, visit our dedicated news section here.